It had been a little over a week since Ray had become part of the Smith household. For the most part, she did her daily chores, took meals with the other residents, and was almost entirely ignored by Roger. Ray was fine with that, however, as it prevented her from having to answer any strange questions.
Apparently Roger did have some friends that weren't Dastun, Instro and present household, but if you had asked Ray what any of them had looked like, she couldn't have told you. It was like staring at generic NPC's in a video game, with none of them being memorable. A few military police and some informants were about the lot of them.
The time had gone rather smoothly, all things considered. Save for the chewing out Norman had given both teenage girls for their use of language. The summary of the lecture was as follows: Ray was to refrain from teaching Dorothy anymore foul language, and Dorothy was to not repeat any such language she knew to begin with. Throughout the entirety of the scolding Ray looked ashamed and Dorothy looked as guilty as she could manage. At the end of it they were told to try and get along, as if the two were school children incapable of finding common ground on their own.
Despite that, both girls tended to avoid each other. Ray wasn't doing so to be rude, but she just didn't know how to approach Dorothy about, well, anything. And Dorothy preferred her gargoyle perch on the stone railing to being inside, or she sat at her piano playing away when the weather was inclimate. Ray actually liked listening to her playing, because when Dorothy wasn't abusing the piano, it was rather relaxing.
Today was such a day. Both had finished their chores, Dorothy was tapping away at the keys, Ray lounging on the couch reading a comic book she had bought with some pocket change. Of course Dorothy would choose then to switch from a slow melody to piano abuse. Ray sighed, exasperated. Roger was already awake and had left for a negotiation, so Dorothy wasn't playing to wake him up.
"Is something bothering you?" Ray ventured to ask.
"No. Why do you ask?"
"Oh no reason, just that you're beating that poor piano's strings to death, and your preferred torture victim isn't present."
Dorothy stopped mid beating of the keys to narrow her vision into a death glare. Ray didn't care, the music had died for the time being.
"Perhaps I should add another victim to the list?" Dorothy practically spat the retort at her.
"But of course! Anything less would be an insult." Ray gestured both lazily and melodramatically with her left arm while using the right to cover her face. She found it rather easy to penetrate the 'armor' that Dorothy tended to wear. If one was to turn insults back at the gynoid, instead of acting upset, then Dorothy had very few reactions other than annoyance. Ray wasn't really doing it to annoy Dorothy, she had just grown tired of the constant stream of verbal and musical assaults. A timely 'hem hem' brought both girls from their little argument to the real world. Oh boy, here we go again.
"Would the two of you mind helping me with dinner preparations?" Norman stood at the top of the penthouse staircase, adorned in his cooking apron.
"Will one of us not suffice Norman?" Dorothy was back in prim and proper mode.
Poor thing, she doesn't realize there's no getting out of Norman's schemes. Then again, they usually don't involve her. Ray got up from the couch and dusted imaginary dirt off her pants, "So what's going to be for dinner?"
"That remains to be seen." Norman had the impish grin he tended to wear when some kind of snafu was about to go down. Both girls followed him to the kitchen. At just about any other time, this room was part of Norman's domain. His personal escape from the rest of the house. At any other time! But not today!
"Now then, you two shall be preparing dinner. Whatever you decide to cook is up to you. There should be enough in the pantry and refrigerator to make simple dishes…"
"Norman if you want food poisoning do it on your own time," Ray interjected, "I have no wish to perish from Dorothy's lack of culinary experience." Dorothy gave her another death glare.
"Well then, you will be responsible for making sure that doesn't happen."
"..." Neither had a response until Ray spoke up. Ray turned her head to face Dorothy, "Do you think it's a good idea for us to be in the same room with sharp implements?"
"No." Dorothy spoke in her usual monotone, but she must have expected what Ray was going to say next.
"Ok then, Dorothy would you mind playing some calming music while I cook?" No sooner had the words exited her mouth than Dorothy started walking towards the kitchen door.
"Enough, both of you!" Norman was not assumed by their antics.
Ray pouted, then gave a sullen sigh. Really? The one time we actually are getting along, and you break it up?
"You will cook a meal together, and no one had better get food poisoning, or harmed." Norman warned. "Now, I have other work to attend to, so please try not to kill each other." With that he left.
"What do you intend to cook, Ray?" Dorothy slowly wandered back over.
"Something you can't mess up, hopefully. I need to take stock of what we have, Norman probably has a bit of everything." Ray shuffled through the pantry, looking for something that caught her eye. "Hey Dorothy, is there any chicken in the fridge?"
"Yes." Ray could hear the refrigerator door opening.
"There cheese in there? If so what kind?" Ideas were forming, so Ray grabbed everything she thought she would need.
"Yes, Brie, cheddar, something called spicy blend and a large block, but it doesn't have a label."
"Good enough. All right then, listen, here's what we're going to make…" Ray lowered her voice and started instructing Dorothy on preparations that had to be done.
About three hours later Roger returned in time for dinner, smelling of smoke.
"How was your day Master Roger? You appear to be a bit singed." Norman appeared at the elevator as it opened to a negotiator that was indeed a bit frayed.
"Stressful. I'm looking forward to dinner." With that the negotiator sauntered up to his room to get cleaned up.
Ah right, that was the next story case. Ray thought as he passed her by in the hallway. "Dinner will be ready soon Norman. Dorothy is keeping an eye on it."
"Wonderful, I'll get the table ready…"
"No just come to the kitchen, force Roger there too, you'll understand when you see."
"Norman, what is this?" Roger, no longer smelling or smoke, and in his pajamas, was seated at the 'head' of the kitchen table.
"Just eat it, ya fussy baby. Dorothy and I spent much too much time making this so Norman would quit trying to force us to be friends." Ray wasn't in the mood for one of Rogers fits. Having to teach Dorothy to cook, on top of making a difficult dish left her tired. She reached for the crispy tortilla strips on the table, and some shredded cheese.
"Fussy baby?" He seemed taken aback by the verbal assault on his age and mentally. "And just where do you get off calling me that?" He raised his voice an octave.
"Please at least try it, Roger." Was it Ray's imagination or did Dorothy sound like she was trying to be soothing? "Ray had to do most of the cooking, but she taught me a few skills. So I would like to know that my mediocre cooking abilities wouldn't kill someone."
"You taught Dorothy to cook?" Roger looked incredulous.
"Blame Norman. I had to find something that she could help out with, and not screw up."
The dish the two had managed to make was chicken tortilla soup. Not impossible for an intermediate chef that Ray was, but difficult for a first time cook like Dorothy. Ray had to show Dorothy everything along the way, while also only allowing the gynoid the chance to work on steps where there was little chance of destroying the whole meal. These steps were such as turning on the oven, putting the chicken in to bake it, frying the tortillas on the stove while Ray worked on the soup stock, and dicing and shredding the chicken. While Dorothy learned simple cooking skills, Ray learned that Dorothy was terribly, frighteningly, deft when it came to using a knife. Well, not like she'd actually stab me with one.
While this whole exchange was occurring, Norman was able to enjoy dinner with the rest of the household for once. Ray had insisted that because she had been made to cook, Norman should get the chance to unwind a short while. Roger only put up minimal protest when he saw the 'let me have this or suffer the consequences' visage Norman had during the verbal throw down between the two.
"Norman's eating it without complaint, so you can too." Ray mumbled between mouthfuls.
"Alright fine, what exactly do I do with what's on the table?"
"Break up some of the strips and put them in the soup, add cheese on top and mix it." Dorothy gave basic instructions while Ray continued giving Roger a dirty gaze.
"My hands are going to get greasy," Roger grumbled while doing as he had been instructed.
"You have a napkin, Master Roger, now would be the time to use it." Norman gave him a not so subtle threat. Hot damn, he really can lose his temper. Glad it isn't aimed at me this time.
Finally Roger shoved a spoonful in his gullet and looked almost like a victim of a child's culinary adventures, then his expression changed. "Oh, this is quite flavorful. You made this, and Norman didn't have to help?"
"Told ya." Ray was grinning, and the light in the room made it seem as if Dorothy was too.
The next day Roger disappeared, much as Ray expected would happen. Dorothy went off to the underground, and not waiting for permission, Ray followed.
"Why did you follow me?" Dorothy didn't even bother looking back at Ray, who wasn't far behind in the disused subway tunnels.
"If Roger is badly hurt one of us needs to stay while the other gets Norman." Really, Ray knew Roger would be fine. What she truly wanted was to get ahold of the insane mummy known as Schwarzwald. 'He may be bat shit, but he also knows this world is a lie. Maybe he knows how to get out.'
It wasn't long until Dorothy found the maintenance shaft Roger had clambered down earlier.
"Would you like to go first?" Dorothy gestured to the shaft.
"No. You should."
"And why is that?" Dorothy's eyes appeared to narrow.
"Cause if I look up I'll be able to see under your skirt." It wasn't Ray's imagination when Dorothy stiffened her posture. Ray was thankful she didn't get called a louse and settled for the stare instead. Dorothy grabbed the ladder and began to descend.
The next bit went as Ray predicted. They found an unconscious negotiator, let him come too, and went down the hallway to the dome under a dome. Schwarzwald made his appearance, but he didn't seem to care that Ray was there. Continuing from there, Schwarzwald began monologuing about fate and reality, and right on cue, Dorothy started doing whatever that fast mumble of startup burst code was.
Showtime! "Dorothy stop! Don't wake it up!" No response. "Oi, rust bucket, quit it!" Bingo! The spewing of gibberish stopped before the ear shattering scream.
"Is now the time for insults?"
"Well you stopped… didn't... you... Oh crap run!" Ray's panic expression should've told the other two what had transpired.
"Huh?" Roger and Dorothy spoke in confused unison.
"Run dang it! It's alive!" With that Ray turned tail and ran.
The rumble of rubble and shattering rock rang out as the archetype woke up, quickly followed by Dorothy showing fear. The negotiator and gynoid trailed not far behind the isekai'd teen on the run from the now awakened robotic zombie. The screams of Schwarzwald setting himself on fire, again, could barely be perceptible from the sounds of the archetype. Eventually the sound of part of the ceiling carving in could be heard over the din of the archetypes thrashing about, and the towering metal protector of Paradigm City was before them.
Ray had seen it so many times before, from watching the show and other media, but seeing The Big O for the first time in person was a surreal experience. Big O plopped his giant metallic hand against the ground and the three climbed aboard, headed for the cockpit. Somehow, she had expected The Big O to be intimidating, but felt quite the opposite here in his hand. Almost as if Ray was safe in his grasp. Once inside the iron giants neck, Roger hopped into the actual cockpit, while the two girls settled outside the crystallized half dome.
'Give me the android.' A ghostly, shrill and angered voice spoke, but the speaker couldn't be seen.
"Who said that?" Ray looked around, but no speaker was apparent, unless…
'GIVE ME THE ANDROID!' The ghostly voice was shouting now. It couldn't be the archetype's, could it? 'GIVE IT TO ME! I NEED IT TO SURVIVE!' No, it really was the archetype speaking, but how could Ray hear it?
"No. No…" Dorothy moaned. She was crouching towards the back of the neck area, shaking. Ray went over to her, and grabbed Dorothy's shoulder.
"You're gonna be ok Dorothy, it's not gonna get you." Ray tried to reassure Dorothy, but wasn't sure if it had any effect. Outside the two giants were duking it out, with the archetype being agile and deftly dodging Big O's swings, but not his other attacks. Ray was finding it was actually difficult to keep her footing while the two fought, so she was more than glad to hold onto the terrified gynoid.
'Why do you fight me? Aren't you whole? You have your partner, I have no one. Give me the android so I can be whole. So I can make it part of me.'
"No, no. It's all lies." Dorothy's voice sounded like it was wavering, but it could've been the ringing of steel on steel while the two giants fought that caused it.
Little wonder Dorothy had been terrified, if that's what the archetype had been saying. Making her a part of its body so it could be whole, it sounded like something straight out of a horror movie… A horror movie Dorothy had already experienced before when she was strapped to her 'Big' sister and used as a power regulation circuit! Of course she would be scared of having to go through that again. Ray had to be imagining it, but Big O seemed to be slowing down?
"It's no friend of yours Big O, you hear me? So don't hold back!" Roger shouted while working the controls, "You don't need to be afraid of it Dorothy. It's just a skeleton from the past!" He worked more buttons and switches furiously.
"Now, take this!" With that Roger ended the fight for Dorothy's body. A volley of missiles launched from Big O's chest cavity and the archetype exploded into scrap. Dorothy soon stopped shaking, and removed Ray's hand from her shoulder, but it wasn't forceful. Once the scrap metal quit raining down from above, Roger worked the controls on Big O to make him use the anchors in the Big's hips, and wrenched the Big back up into the Prairie Dog, waiting above on some subway tracks.
It wasn't until Big O was in repose in the Prairie Dog that Ray remembered she had wanted to get ahold of Schwarzwald. "Ah dang it. Oh well, he'll be back and I'll try to get something out of him next time.'
The ride home didn't take that long, and once they were back, Norman began repairs, and for the first time since she had arrived, Roger decided to have a private conversation with Ray.
"Well, now that you know about this households Big secret I'll need you to…" Ray cut Roger off.
"I've known about him for awhile you know." Ray was oddly calm, given the circumstances.
"How could you have known about him? Did Norman tell you?"
"Oh no, I figured it out. You disappear for a bit, Megaduce shows up where you go. Really it wasn't that difficult to put together. Not to mention, when Norman does the repairs and maintenance it makes a lot of noise." The noise part was true, it was rather deafening, even when you weren't in the docking and repair bay. Technically, knowing about Big O for a long time wasn't a lie either, but had Ray told Roger she had known about the Megaduce before meeting him, the news probably wouldn't have gone over well.
"I see. Well then, can I trust you to keep the secret." Roger switched into negotiation mode.
"Yeah, why not. I go telling anyone and likely I end up in a dark cell somewhere anyways."
"Why would I throw you in a dark cell?" Roger seemed aghast at the idea of physically harming Ray.
"Didn't say you would, but someone who doesn't like you might try and keep me quiet." Ray yawned, sleepy after a long day. "I'm gonna go get a snack and then head to bed. Night."
"Night." Roger watched as Ray wandered off towards the elevator. Once Ray was in the elevator and out of earshot Roger mumbled, "I think I need to pay a visit to the Speakeasy later. Something about this new assistant of Norman's doesn't add up."
Ray awoke in the middle of the night, sweat soaked and panting like she had run a marathon. A nightmare unlike any she had experienced since childhood was the cause. The nightmare had been about what had transpired underground, the ghostly, ghastly and maddening voice of the archetype had hounded her, chased her around the corridors below, before gleaming LED lit jaws chomped down on her.
Ray knew she couldn't go back to sleep after that, so she went off towards the penthouse, and outside onto the balcony. The city was bright, even late into the night when most of its residents slept, lit by the colored night lights of the domes, street lamps and neon signage.
"It's rather late, should you still be up?" Dorothy looked almost like a ghost this late at night, what with how pale her skin was. It didn't help that a thick fog was forming.
"Couldn't sleep. Do you not need to rest?"
"No, for androids sleep is not necessary. Though we do have resting states for when we are maintained and upgraded." Dorothy seemed to float past her to the parapet.
"Is that so?" Ray followed her to the edge of the concrete railing separating the balcony from the drop to the street below. There was a long, but not uncomfortable, silence between the two that spanned a good while. Eventually Dorothy broke their revere.
"You heard that monster speak, didn't you?" Dorothy looked over at Ray, the light of the city at night making her appear worried.
"Yeah." Ray's voice shook. She couldn't help it, the nightmare and the voice of the archetype came back to her.
"A human shouldn't be able to hear them." Dorothy looked back out over the city.
"I know that," Ray's voice was barely a whisper, and she shivered when the wind gusted by, "I know I shouldn't be able to hear them. And I know that being here, not knowing how or why I ended up in this city… I know it doesn't make any sense. So why am I in Paradigm City?"
The lights made Dorothy's face look like it was frowning.
No Side
Probably going to take a bit longer for future chapters to be out. I've got a few ideas bumping around in my head that I will have to write down, but for now I feel this is a good start.